11/20/06 - Adams - Time To Step Up The Pace If Progress Is To Be MadeSF 11/20/06 Adams - Time To Step Up The Pace If Progress Is To Be MadeIT 11/20/06 Paisley Snubs North Government Talks AgainBB 11/20/06 Parties Discuss Future AssemblyBT 11/20/06 Face To Face, But Without PaisleyBT 11/20/06 Church Leaders Hopeful Of A Peace DealSF 11/20/06 First Ever Sinn Fein Member Of Housing Executive BoardBB 11/20/06 NIO's Appointment Under ScrutinySF 11/20/06 Sinn Fein Calls For Immediate Inquiry Into AppointmentIN 11/20/06 Burning Of Lundy `Peaceful'IN 11/20/06 Soldiers' Killer Can Move To North JailIN 11/20/06 Irish Army Peacekeeper `Cracked' Under PressureIT 11/20/06 Priest Seriously Hurt In Co Kerry AttackRT 11/20/06 Church Outraged By Kerry Priest AttackBT 11/20/06 Opin: Time Of The Essence To Broker A DealIN 11/20/06 Opin: War Is Over - Politics Is New Armed CombatBT 11/20/06 Opin: P¢L O Muir¡: Ulster-Scots In The DepthsIT 11/20/06 Church Fails To React To Shortage Of PriestsBN 11/20/06 First Irish University TV Station Goes 'On-Air' TodayBT 11/20/06 The Boss Brings Irish Ballad To Belfast StageBT 11/20/06 Movie Legend Pacino To Be Honoured By TrinityIM 11/20/06 Special Screenings From The Irish Film ArchiveIT 11/20/06 Council To Recognise Dingle PlacenameMF 11/20/06 Saint Of 9/11----

11/05/06 - Government Will Not Abandon NorthIT 11/06/06 Government Will Not Abandon NorthIM 11/05/06 Opin: Has The Irish Times Become Too Big For Its Boots?TW 11/06/06 Irish Lottery Players Want Bigger WinsIT 11/06/06 Irish MRSA Rate Higher Due To Poor Resources----

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Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams is to meet British primeminister Tony Blair in London today to discuss how toovercome obstacles to restoring devolution as a number ofDUP politicians insisted there could be no prior agreementon when policing and justice would be transferred to theNorthern Executive.

DUP leader Dr Ian Paisley is due to hold a strategy meetingtoday with Assembly members, MPs and the party's sole MEP,Jim Allister, in Co Antrim today - a meeting which is alsoexpected to be used to address tensions within the partyover the St Andrews Agreement.

The British and Irish governments are attempting to devisea formula that would resolve the standoff between Sinn Féinand the DUP over when and whether responsibility forpolicing and justice would be devolved to the NorthernExecutive. This, and the subject of MI5, are expected to bethe main issues on the Adams/Blair agenda today.

Sinn Féin is also expected to decide today whether it willparticipate in the new transitional Assembly which ismeeting again at Stormont on Monday.

Three DUP politicians - North Belfast MP Nigel Dodds andAssembly members Edwin Poots and Ian Paisley jnr -yesterday issued statements insisting the party would notprovide Sinn Féin with a date for the devolution of justiceand policing powers.

This was in response to Mr Adams's An Phoblacht articlewhere he said he was prepared to speak directly with SirHugh Orde and where he repeated his willingness to proposean ard- fheis on policing, but based on a timetable for thetransfer of policing powers.

Mr Dodds repeated that such a DUP commitment would not beforthcoming, although he moderated his previous positionthat such devolution would not happen in a "politicallifetime". Sinn Féin now had a "long way to go" before theDUP would consider such a move.

He said Sinn Féin, "alone of all the parties in NorthernIreland, are demanding that before they can support thepolice they must have some kind of control or influence atan early date. No other party has ever demanded or beengranted this.

"Sinn Féin have a long way to go yet before they can evenbegin to earn the confidence and trust of decent peoplethat would allow us to contemplate devolution of policingand justice," said Mr Dodds.

Meanwhile, Sir Hugh said he was ready to hold direct talkswith Mr Adams. "My people have got to be able to talk totheir people and at every level openly about all the issuesthat people are concerned about," he told yesterday'sBelfast Telegraph.

"Policing isn't political. It is about people who needhelp. All I ask is that my people are given the opportunityto protect all communities. Don't judge us by the past.Judge us by what we do now. That's all I ask," he added.

Sinn Féin and the SDLP oppose MI5 having any role ingeneral or "civic" policing and distrust British governmentassurances that the secret agency's role will be limited toUK "national security".

Sir Hugh said that "national security is aboutinternational terrorism and if people think the island ofIreland is immune from international terrorism then theyneed to wise up".

In a wide ranging article published in today’s (Thursday20th) edition of An Phoblacht, Sinn Féin President GerryAdams sets out the party’s position on policing. Mr Adamsmakes it clear that he believes that the remaining issuescan be resolved. He says that he is committed to calling ameeting of the party Ard Chomhairle immediately when theseissues are resolved for the purpose of convening a specialArd Fheis within the timeframe set out at St. Andrews.

Full text of article follows below

I want to welcome Ian Paisley’s commitment to take up thepost of First Minister and to share power with Sinn Féinonce outstanding issues are resolved, and if the electorateso decide. I do not underestimate the challenge this is forSinn Féin and for many republicans and nationalists. Nor doI underestimate the challenge a power sharing arrangementpresents for Mr. Paisley and the DUP.

However, I am confident that all of the outstanding issuescan be resolved, including that of policing. Sinn Féin isfor policing and a fair and effective legal and judicialsystem which is transparent and accountable. That requiresa different policing experience to the one we have known.

Republicans and nationalists are against criminality. Thosewho target the young and the elderly, those who deal indrugs and rob and assault our senior citizens, as well asthe rapists and racists, have to face justice.

In all of the countless negotiations we have had on thisissue in recent years Sinn Féin’s strategic goal has beento achieve a civic policing system which is accountable tocitizens and representative of the community as a whole.

A number of key matters remain to be resolved. Central tothese are the exercise of power and accountability overpolicing and justice. It is unreasonable to expectpoliticians or citizens to take responsibility for policingand justice and yet have no real authority over thesematters.

Local politicians would not agree to run the health servicewithout authority over it. Local politicians would expectto be able to question or challenge the Health Ministerabout decisions being taken by the health department.

Policing and justice are vital, fundamental issues ofconcern for every citizen. The Assembly and Executiveshould have the same rights in respect of these matters asfor health and education and environment and so on. Itmakes sense. I believe we can find agreement on this.

What is needed is a definitive timeframe, a date for thetransfer of power and the departmental model into whichpower will be transferred. This isn’t rocket science. It isabout parties taking straightforward and practicaldecisions.

Some DUP politicians have said this matter cannot beresolved for several political lifetimes. That isunsustainable. Arguments about trust and confidence are inmy opinion fundamentally bogus. None of our politicalparties trust each other. That is universal. It is notunique. It is the nature of politics. In our situation thisdistrust is heightened by decades of injustice, division,discrimination and the last 30 years of conflict.

Very few nationalists or republicans trust the agencies ofthe northern state. This is particularly so, and with goodreason the case with policing agencies, whether the oldRUC, the B Specials and other local militia, or the PSNI.

Significant progress has been made in making the PSNI moreaccountable but because of the sectarian and repressivehistory of policing in the six counties the PSNI will haveto do a lot to earn the confidence of most nationalists.

Some in this post conflict period may think this is unfair.But the fact is that there was partisan policing whichengaged in harassment, torture, assassination, shoot-to-kill, plastic bullet murders and maimings and collusionwith death squads. That is why the Good Friday Agreementrequired ‘a new beginning to policing’ as an essentialelement of the peace process.

That is why policing is such an emotive issue. And becausemany RUC officers died or were injured in the conflict itis understandable that this emotion affects unionists aswell as nationalists.

That is why there is a need for interlocking processes andmeasures to compensate for the lack of trust andconfidence. And the truth is there is not a singlepolitical player who does not know this. So crucially weneed local accountability and control of our policing andjustice structures. We need to take control of policing andjustice away from London.

The British government also needs to deal with a number ofmatters which remain under its control; principle amongthese is the role of MI5. There is no role for MI5 in civicpolicing. The PSNI cannot serve two masters. Neither canthere ever again be a force within a force.

So, there is a job of work to be done on these issues. Canthey be resolved? Yes. And let there be no doubt that evenif and when these matters are resolved, there will still bea lot of work to be done by everyone to win nationalist andrepublican confidence in the PSNI. Indeed some republicansmay argue that the British connection and the partition ofIreland prohibits support for any policing agency in thenorth. But Sinn Féin believes thatnone of these problems are insurmountable. We are up to thechallenge of resolving these matters.

Let me be very clear about this. I am committed to callinga meeting of the Sinn Féin Ard Chomhairle immediately whenthese issues are resolved. This Ard Chomhairle meeting willbe for the purpose of convening a special Ard Fheis withinthe timeframe set out at St. Andrews.

However, let me be equally clear that I will not go to theArd Chomhairle to seek a special Ard Fheis unless I havethe basis to do so.

In order to expedite these matters Sinn Fein will intensifyour contact with the British government. We are prepared tomeet with the PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde on issueswhich fall within his remit and we will sit down with theDUP and other parties at any time to agree other issues.

I am determined to make clear to the widest cross sectionof national public opinion and especially unionist peoplethat I am determined to see all these issues dealt with asquickly as possible and, as I have said, within thetimeframe set out at St. Andrews. If the two governmentsand the other parties are of the same mind then there is noreason why this cannot happen.

Making the peace process work is exhausting andfrustrating. It is far from a perfect process andrepublicans are not naive. I have repeatedly said thatprogress is very much inch by inch.

I would appeal to nationalists and republicans to stayfocussed, united and patient through this difficultperiod.”ENDS

Gerry Adams has been accused of putting the cart before thehorse in demanding a date for policing and justice powersto be transferred in Northern Ireland before Sinn Feinendorsed the police service.

By:Press Association

Democratic Unionist Policing Board member Ian Paisley Jnraccused the Sinn Fein president of trying to dodge therequirement on his party to move first under the St Andrewsplan for power sharing by publicly supporting the PoliceService of Northern Ireland.

In a hard-hitting response, the North Antrim Assemblymember said: "Gerry Adams should hear this message loud andclear.

"He is not getting a date for the devolution of policing -period!

"He cannot put the cart before the horse in this matter.

"Sinn Fein must stop running away from and dodging theissue. Support for the police, the courts and the rule oflaw must come first in a real, genuine and meaningful waybefore anyone could even contemplate a timeframe for thedevolution of policing.

"By avoiding this issue Sinn Fein only postpones seriousconsideration of devolution by unionists. It is up to SinnFein to build confidence by their actions and so far theyhave failed this sincerity test."

In an article in the republican newspaper An Phoblacht, MrAdams signalled Sinn Fein could hold a special conferenceon policing by next March if all its concerns were properlyaddressed.

A day after it was confirmed the West Belfast MP had beentold by the PSNI of another threat to his life, he speltout clearly his requirements if a party conference toconsider endorsing the police was to be held within thetimetable envisaged at St Andrews.

Mr Adams said he needed a definite date for the transfer ofpolicing and justice powers from Westminster to Stormont,agreement on the type of devolved government departmentthat would handle them and for MI5 to be excluded from anycivic policing role.

He also offered to meet PSNI Chief Constable Sir Hugh Ordeand the Rev Ian Paisley`s Democratic Unionists in a bid tobreak the political impasse.

The Sinn Fein leader stated: "Let me be very clear aboutthis.

"I am committed to calling a meeting of the Sinn Fein ardchomhairle (national executive) immediately when theseissues are resolved.

"This ard chomhairle meeting will be for the purpose ofconvening a special ard fheis (party conference) within thetimeframe set out at St Andrews.

"However, let me be equally clear that I will not go to theard chomhairle to seek a special ard fheis unless I havethe basis to do so.

"In order to expedite these matters Sinn Fein willintensify our contact with the British Government. We areprepared to meet with the PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde onissues which fall within his remit and we will sit downwith the DUP and other parties at any time to agree otherissues.

"I am determined to make clear to the widest cross sectionof national public opinion and especially unionist peoplethat I am determined to see all these issues dealt with asquickly as possible and, as I have said, within thetimeframe set out at St Andrews.

"If the two governments and the other parties are of thesame mind then there is no reason why this cannot happen."

Policing remains the major obstacle to Prime Minister TonyBlair and Irish Taoiseach Bertie Ahern`s hopes of restoringpower sharing at Stormont by next March.

The DUP and Sinn Fein are engaged in a Mexican stand-offover the issue, with Mr Adams insisting he cannot call aspecial conference on policing without a date for andagreement on the type of government department that willhandle law and order.

However DUP deputy leader Peter Robinson and the party`sNorth Belfast MP Nigel Dodds have warned it could takeseveral political lifetimes until unionists are convincedthe powers could be handled by a devolved administration.

Mr Adams said the DUP`s objections to the devolution ofpolicing and justice powers were bogus.

The police officer, who was deputy chief constable of theRUC, had been West Yorkshire's chief constable for the pastfour years.

He died after a lengthy battle with cancer. Mr Cramphorn,50 was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004.

As RUC deputy chief constable, and then acting PSNI chiefconstable, he oversaw the introduction of the new policingarrangements for Northern Ireland.

In a statement, the PSNI said: "The contribution by ColinCramphorn to the history and development of policing inNorthern Ireland can never, nor should ever, beunderstated.

"The successful evolution of the Police Service of NorthernIreland as a professional policing organisation, which isregarded highly both at home and abroad, is in no smallmeasure due to his dedication, drive and unassuming buteffective commitment.

It added: "In the highly sensitive and often politically-charged atmosphere which prevailed following the Pattenreport, he recognised the importance of building on thesolid foundations of the past in order to create a newservice of which every citizen could, and should, be proud.

"In that he succeeded."

As West Yorkshire's chief constable, Mr Cramphorn led theforce during a time when it was rocked by the fatalshootings of two officers - Pc Ian Broadhurst on Boxing Dayin 2003 and Pc Sharon Beshenivsky last November.

On Tuesday Belfast Crown Court judge Mr Justice McLaughlinsaid he could not convict him of the 2003 murder of AlanMcCullough - a former associate of UDA leader Johnny Adair- or UFF and UDA membership.

As Mr Courtney was freed on his own bail of £100 onThursday, the judge said he had been thrust into adifficult position after ruling that the evidence was notstrong enough to convict him.

"I have made it clear that the ruling I gave two days agowas not intended to be a detailed analysis of all theevidence," he said.

"It purports to be nothing more than an analysis of certainportions of evidence which, in my opinion, left such gapsin the prosecution case that I had to come to theconclusion there were no circumstances in which I couldproperly convict.

"The prosecution now invites me to allow them to appealthat conclusion.

"It seems to me there's something of a conflict between mehaving reached that decision and now saying there is noarguable case to grant leave.

"I'm not very happy that the prosecution has establishedthe basis upon which it should be given leave (to appeal)."

As he refused the application, Mr Justice McLaughlinaccepted that the prosecution was free to put its casebefore the three Appeal Court judges.

He added that he had proceeded with caution because it wasthe first time a judge sitting in a Diplock trial inNorthern Ireland had been put in such a position.

The body of Mr McCullough, 21, was found in a shallow graveon the outskirts of north Belfast. He had been shot.

An earlier hearing had been told that Mr McCullough hadbeen a member of the so-called "C company" of the UDA -headed by Adair.

"C company" had been expelled from the UDA in 2002, and anumber of its members, including the victim, had beenordered out of Northern Ireland by UDA leaders.

Mr McCullough returned to Northern Ireland in April 2003and his body was found on 5 June.

THE brother of a Tyrone man murdered by Michael Stone hasdescribed the convicted killer's bizarre attack on Stormontlast Friday as "a publicity stunt" to keep himself in thelimelight.

The Milltown murderer is now being held in solitaryconfinement at Maghaberry, facing five attempted murdercharges after his one-man offensive at ParliamentBuildings, which ended with him being trapped in arevolving door and disarmed by two Stormont security staff.

Roddy Hackett, whose brother Dermot was gunned down in 1987by the UFF near Drumquin, came face to face with thenotorious loyalist hitman in February for a controversialBBC programme.

Stone was convicted of Mr Hackett's murder but laterclaimed in his autobiography that he helped arrange thekilling but hadn't actually pulled the trigger.

Roddy, who lives in Omagh said, "We only met him for onereason, to find out about whether he played an active partin my brother's shooting and he said he didn't."

In this landmark meeting Stone claimed to have only plannedthe attack, despite previously admitting that he carriedout Dermot Hackett's murder.

Speaking to the UlsterHerald, Roddy said he can no longerbelieve fully what Stone told him, as these recent actionshave made him question the motives behind Stone's actions.

Roddy said, "I am beginning to think now, how many otherthings has he said that he has done that he hasn't, as heseems to be a real man for the limelight. I honestly dothink he is a publicity seeker, living in a world of hisown.

"I don't think that he (Stone) had anything to do with mybrother's killing. He may have done a bit of the planning,but he has left the whole thing up in the air again," saidRoddy.

Roddy questioned Stone's mental health, but also admittedto feeling an element of sympathy for him.

"At the time that we met him I felt sorry for him, I stilldo as I think he could have psychiatric problems - he isjust one of these people that has been brought up withtrouble in their life and now can't live without thenotoriety of being gone. I think the pressures of the wayhe lives and what he has done in the past has got to him."

Independent MLA Kieran Deeny who was in the chambers ofParliament Buildings at the time of the crazed attackreiterated this suggestion that Stone craves attention.

He said, "There was an air of disbelief throughout thechamber that this was happening, but that is the sort ofguy that he is a narcissist who loves publicity.

"I understand that big incidents like last Friday has to bepublicised, but these individuals get far too much mediaattention and strive on it and wants more of it. The mediahas to take some responsibility as this is why Stone picksthese places. He picked a graveyard 18 years ago becausethere was a huge profile on it and picked a huge day inNorthern Ireland politics last Friday."

The initiative, developed over 23 years, involves a first-aid process to detect any warning signs and intervene.

Mr McCann, 19, a student from west Belfast’s Lower Falls,said: “It’s to help recognise the basic concept of suicideand symptoms such as stress and giving away possessions andact on them.

“We see ourselves as care workers trying to pull people outof the river of suicide.”

Mr McCann and Ms Ní Cathail, both 18, from Ballymurphy,west Belfast, work with Belfast City Council’s Youth Forum,where they are teaching colleagues about what can be doneto protect those at risk.

They are also planning to run a course for staff working inthe community and team up with the Samaritans to put on aplay at City Hall in December to raise awareness of thedifficulties facing some of the most vulnerable atChristmas.

“We would like as many people as possible to come along,”said Mr McCann.

“Suicide is something people find hard to talk about, butwe need to start looking closely at what we can do tointervene before it happens.”

He added: “The Youth Forum has identified suicide as amajor area of concern and has drawn up a strategy to helptackle it.

“We aim to raise awareness among as many people aspossible, highlighting the effects suicide has on ourcommunity.

“There is often a great stigma or taboo around suicidewhich may prevent people reaching out for help.

“However, they often give involuntary signals that they arethinking about it and if we can pick these up we can applyfirst aid until the necessary help is forthcoming. In thisway ASIST is proven to work and it helps save lives.”

The judge in the Omagh bomb trial today launched ablistering attack on two police officers over what hebranded misleading and false evidence.

He called their actions “reprehensible” and added: “Thecredibility of the two witnesses had been brought intoserious question”.

It was revealed today the Northern Police Ombudsman hasbeen called in by Chief Constable Huge Orde after the judgeearlier called for an immediate investigation of theofficers’ actions.

Mr Justice Weir issued his damning indictment of DetectiveSergeant Fiona Cooper and Detective Sergeant PhilipMarshall, since promoted to detective chief inspector, whenruling on a defence application to have two of the 58charges against the alleged Omagh bomber thrown out.

Yesterday the defence team for 37-year-old south Armagh manSean Hoey made an application to have two charges,unrelated to the Omagh bombing itself, dismissed.

Orlando Pownall, QC, claimed the officers had been involvedin “a unity of purpose, otherwise known as a conspiracy tobury” evidence.

The charges surrounded a murder conspiracy and a mortarbomb find at Altmore Forest at Dungannon, Co Tyrone, inApril 2001, nearly three years after the Omagh bomb, whichclaimed 29 lives and injured hundreds more.

Hoey, an electrician, denies all charges against him.

After considering the application overnight the judge toldMr Pownall he was turning it down.

However, he described the actions of the two policeofficers as “reprehensible”.

He said: “The defence has exposed the nature of false andmisleading evidence of these two witnesses”.

He went on: “The credibility of the two witnesses has beenbrought into serious question.”

Explaining his refusal to drop the charges he said: “I donot, however, accept in the course of the present case thatthe conduct of the police witnesses is so grave as tothreaten or undermine the rule of law itself.

“Any prejudice can be dealt with within the trial process.”

Mr Justice Weir said he considered there was noinfringement of Hoey’s human rights in continuing the trialon the two counts.

The accusations against the two police witnesses centred onwritten statements that they made and that the court heardhad replaced earlier statements, which had sincedisappeared.

Mr Pownall alleged the statements had been doctored to beefup the case against Hoey to appear stronger.

Last week the judge called for an immediate investigationinto why the statements were altered.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland confirmed today thatOrde had referred the matter to the police ombudsman forinvestigation.

THE chasm within republicanism was evident during adiscussion on policing attended by leading Tyrone politicalactivists Francis Mackey of the 32-County SovereigntyMovement and Willie Gallagher of the IRSP.

Around 200 people attended the debate in the Conway Mill,Belfast on Monday night.

Mr Mackey who once held the position of Chairman of OmaghDistrict Council was highly critical of his previous party,Sinn Féin. He claimed that his former colleagues allusionsto "securocrats" are merely "scare tactics" to justifytheir acceptance of British rule in Ireland. He said thathis group would not accept a police force "whilst partitionexists."

Despite an assertion from Declan Kearney of Sinn Féin thathis party had signed up to nothing and are still in theprocess of negotiation, Mr Mackey questioned the decisionto involve the republican movement in any process which wasin essence created and controlled by the Britishgovernment.

He added,"The spectacle of republicans donning the uniformof once legitimate targets blinds some to the reality ofwhat that represents. Part of the normalising policy is thenormalising of the British government's illegal claim torule in Ireland."

His sentiments were echoed by Willie Gallagher fromStrabane who said, "For republicans the PSNI can never beaccepted as an acceptable police service" He also commentedthat while republicans have accepted police "in issues ofordinary crime, they cannot solve the corrupt policingsystem by becoming police within the corrupt system."

The debate which became quite heated at times, took placeagainst a background of pressure being exerted on Sinn Féinby the two governments and other political parties to signup to policing.

Earlier that day DUP leader Ian Paisley intimated in an RTEinterview that his party would be ready to share power withSinn Féin as soon as they accepted the current policingarrangement. It is a proposition that is causing muchunease among grassroots republicans.

That was a tender tableau as the Sinn Féin leader arrivedat Stormont. Out of the car, scarf knotted against thecold, busy politician's folder under arm, pats Osgur thedog. The last political figure in the North to displaypublic affection for a pooch and take it to the office wasPeter Mandelson, a comparison you'd think Mr Adams wouldavoid.

Images matter too much when politics has little substance.Last Friday's hokum at Stormont had a layer of direseriousness beneath the farce, yet it is the sights thatwill stick. As a Sinn Féin image, November 2006 vintage, MrAdams as dog-lover may be as potent as the sight of IanPaisley clutching his script a bit too tightly, and muchmore significant than the Michael Stone sideshow.

Many look at or listen to leading republicans in peacetimemode and feel angry or sick. It affronts some of thosebereaved by the IRA, or maimed by them, to be presentedwith images of Mr Adams as writer, Martin McGuinness asfisherman, feted abroad or consulted by foreign visitors asconflict-resolvers. Maybe when republicans do sign up tosupport Northern Ireland's police - as they have only thisweek begun to do formally in the South - a share ofantipathy will dissolve.

Some will always resent the sense that each ounce of newrespectability displaces a ton of blame for the blood andmisery of the past. Depict Adams, McGuinness et al aspersonalities, this thinking goes, or simply enhance theirhuman qualities and you make a pact with Satan.

It is more difficult to judge the status of leading SinnFéiners now among their own community.

The SDLP's most loyal supporters will never forgive therepublican movement for so many deaths, for prolonging theviolence, alienating the South and embittering so manyunionists. Among republicans, there is fear and resentmentabout the process that has neutered the IRA, destroyed thearms and set a course towards final recognition of thestate by accepting the police. The still-uncertain prospectof sharing power with Dr Paisley has obvious limitations asa pay-off.

Traditionalists hate the Adams-McGuinness team with avengeance, but even among the faithful they have lost alittle lustre. The journey from war to peace has taken toolong, and familiarity breeds irreverence. There are peopleold enough to have set up homes, had children and lostmarriages, who don't remember the war because they wereyoung teenagers in 1994 when the IRA called that firstcessation of hostilities. Some still like to see GerryAdams wandering round events in the West Belfast festivalin his Aran jumper or bringing his grandchild to watch hisson playing football in Casement Park. Simply because he isa grandfather, the greying man patting Osgur the dog mayhave passed his peak as father of his people. They mightnot want him to try the regal wave of the octogenarian DrPaisley: the pose with dog had a touch of off-duty filmstar.

Still, he looked composed. Compared to "the other side",Sinn Féin's leaders radiate assurance. Last Friday saw DrPaisley take up three, perhaps four positions inside 24hours, none of them gracefully. As he read his speech,crunching the paper hard as though warding off thetemptation to improvise, it became clear that the texthammered out with Tony Blair's minions had been amended.Some of his MLAs grew fidgety.

Near the end, concentration took its toll. Despite loudprompts from his son and Peter Robinson, the new-fangled,insulting replacement for the RUC eventually came out"ESPI" instead of PSNI. Invoking Martin Luther's "Here Istand" may have been his own idea but dwindled without "Ican do no other," which in the circumstances might havebrought disbelieving giggles. The angry statement thatemerged with 12 signatures included some surprises, likethe personable Gregory Campbell and the recently ennobledLord Morrow. Some wondered at the rebellion of longtimePaisley aide Nigel Dodds.

Others thought it might be a reaction to his poor showingin a recent poll, when he unexpectedly trailed in behindblow-in Jeffrey Donaldson and well behind the leader's son,the latter clearly benefiting from his new prominenceduring his father's forays into the strange territory ofnegotiation. As previously-hidden tensions break into thelight, the DUP has started to look like an ordinarypolitical party.

Mr Adams has averted major splits and held his movementtogether on an extraordinary journey. Dr Paisley's abilityto do the same is now being put to the test. Hisperformance will decide the course of the next phase of thepeace process. He long ago went beyond playing grandfatherto assume the role of patriarch.

He has discovered, however, that some important supportersare not as Paisleyite as they once were - but then nor ishe.

Artefacts from a cemetery containing the cremated remainsof at least 27 individuals discovered along the path of the€190 million Ennis bypass went on display yesterday for amonth at the Clare County Museum.

Curator John Rattigan said the earliest of the remains havebeen carbon-dated back to the Late Neolithic/Early BronzeAge between 2450-2150 BC. Burials continued at the sitethrough the Bronze Age and up to the late Iron Age,spanning some 2,700 years, he said.

"Three glass beads, which are included in the 'Funerary'section of the exhibit, were found when processingarcheological material during post-excavation. The beadsoriginated from a ring barrow excavated at Claureen nearthe Lahinch Road and were probably votive offerings ofMediterranean origin dating from between 250 BC-50 AD."

Other artefacts found at the cemetery include crematedbone, pottery fragments, stone tools and cereal grains fromManusmore in the parish of Clareabbey.

Mr Rattigan said the exhibition features a full collectionof artefacts dating from the Bronze Age to modern times."The free exhibition represents a final opportunity for thepublic to view the artefacts" before they are sent forstorage in Dublin, he said.